Sex pheromones (attractants) of several different insects have been synthesized and investigative work by these inventors is being continued with others. Each of the synthetic materials possesses potential as a control agent and/or survey tool when formulated in a manner as to render them suitable for field use.
The boll weevil sex pheromone synthesis was reported by J. H. Tumlinson in Science, pp. 1010-2 ( 1969) in a paper bearing the title, "Sex Pheromones Produced by Male Boll Weevil: Isolation, Identification, and Synthesis." It has been noted that the synthetic pheromone, while a potent attractant, possesses a very short residual life span. When deposited on firebrick or other absorptive materials, it is active for periods only up to about 24 hours under field conditions. G. H. McKibben, et al. used various polymers, resins, and waxes to formulate this attractant into compressed tablets which gave a slow, sustained release of the attractant over long periods of time. These preliminary studies were reported in "Slow Release of Grandlure, the Synthetic Pheromone of the Boll Weevil," which was published in the Journal of Economic Entomology, Vol. 64, pp. 317-19, 1970. A later improvement was reported by Hardee et al. (J. Econ. Entomol., Vol. 65, pp. 97 -100, 1972) wherein the grandlure was incorporated into a solution of polyethylene glycol, methanol, glycerol, and water and absorbed onto cigarette filters. This formulation was effective in attracting boll weevils to traps for periods of 1 week or less.